The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically to mechanisms for automatically generating questions and obtaining answers for such automatically generated questions via a Question and Answer (QA) system, based on the monitoring of one or more related messaging sessions.
With the ever increasing proliferation of electronic communication systems in today's society, tasks are more often requiring that a user interface with other parties via these electronic communication systems in order to rectify problems or obtain information quickly. For example, instant messaging, chat sessions, texting, and the like, are increasingly being used as a basis for users to communicate with parties in order to complete a task, e.g., problem resolution or the like. In some cases, the user may operate as an intermediary between two or more other parties with which the user has separate communication sessions and which are not aware of each other.
For example, a customer service representative, the “user” in this case, may have a first chat session established with a customer over a first communication link in order to assist the customer with a problem the customer is encountering. The customer service representative (CSR) may need to contact a subject matter expert, such as a technician or the like, in a second chat session, or access a database via an automated mechanism, to obtain additional information to assist the CSR in assisting the customer. As such, the CSR, as an intermediary, is tasked with having to manually share the information exchanged in one chat session with a first party (e.g., the customer) with a second party (e.g., the subject matter expert) in a second communication connection, e.g., second chat session. As such, the user must manually enter the information gathered from one chat session into the other, e.g., by typing the information in, performing a copy/paste operation or the like.
In addition, there are times when a user may be involved in an electronic communication conversation with a party and information is exchanged that the user does not recognize as being information pertinent to solving the problems experienced by the party or information for which additional information is available that may be helpful in solving the problems experienced by the party. For example, a customer may offhandedly mention that they are using a particular operating system and the user, e.g., the CSR, may not realize that this operating system, combined with other factors, may be a root cause of the problem and a simple, yet obscure, solution may be available. As a result, much time and effort may be expended trying to solve the party's problem which could have been avoided if the availability of additional information or the importance of the supplied information were recognized by the user.